Lou Reed reportedly recovering from liver transplant

Lou Reed performs in 2009 at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The rocker's wife, Laurie Anderson, told a London newspaper that he recently had a liver transplant.

Lou Reed performs in 2009 at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The rocker's wife, Laurie Anderson, told a London newspaper that he recently had a liver transplant. (John Smierciak / Associated Press)

Mikael Wood

Lou Reed is recuperating after a liver transplant that saved his life, said the New York rocker's wife, Laurie Anderson, in an interview published Saturday in the Times of London.

"It's as serious as it gets," Anderson told the newspaper of the operation, which Reed had in Cleveland. "He was dying. You don't get it for fun."

In March the former Velvet Underground frontman, 71, canceled a handful of West Coast performances, including his planned appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. At the time he cited "unavoidable complications."

Anderson said she's not sure Reed will ever "totally recover" from the transplant, but added that "he'll certainly be back to doing [things] in a few months. He's already working and doing t'ai chi. I'm very happy. It's a new life for him."

In 2011 Reed collaborated with Metallica on the album "Lulu," and last year he appeared with the band Metric on its album "Synthetica."